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Thursday, May 31, 2018

Arranging the Feast: The Application of Medieval Dietary Theory to Modern Day Feasts

This paper represents my very first competition & research paper. Be kind with your constructive criticism, offer solutions and suggestions along with your critique. I welcome it, I wish to improve not only research but in writing.

Thank you!

Arranging the Feast:

The Application of Medieval Dietary
Theory to Modern Day Feasts

Bronwyn Ni Mhathain

MKA:
Yonnie Travis

Society for Creative Anachronism

Blog: Giveitforth.blogspot.com

Facebook: Give it Forth & Historic Cookery
Group

Contents

Introduction.. 4

Greek Dietetics. 5

Theory of Digestion.. 7

Feeding the Humors or the
Role of the Cook and Health.. 9

Introduction to
Structuring the Feast. 10

Defining the Sequence. 11

Putting it all Together
–or- Creating the Modern “Medieval” Menu.. 14

Conclusion.. 16

References. 18

Appendix A: Sequence of
the Menu.. 20

Appendix B: John Russells
-A dynere of flesche.21

Appendix C:Maistre
Chiquart: The Service of Dinner on the First Day. 22

Purpose

Many
years ago, I brought a friend who is a historian to an SCA event.They enjoyed their time at the event,
marveled at the efforts to recreate a “modern” medieval tournament.They enjoyed the fighting, clothing, classes
and demonstrations of skill and prowess. However, when it came to time feast,
my friend was a bit disappointed. They were expecting to see the same care and
thought in the feast as they had seen all day throughout the event. My friend enjoyed the food that was served and
the hospitality and joviality of the hall, however, the food was not quite
period, and the menu itself was “too modern” in design.It was their comment “you work so hard to
recreate a specific atmosphere, but you fell down at the feast” that in part
led to my researching how meals were served.

It
was this comment that made me ask the questions; “What dietary theories were
used in period?”, “How can we apply the dietary practices of the time period we
are emulating to our feasts?”, and “Is this feasible?” This paper will explain
how to create a modern “Medieval” menu using the dietary theories and practices
that were prevalent during the 14th and 15th Centuries specifically
in England, although it will touch very lightly on other cultures (France and
Italy) as well.

To understand
the structure of a medieval feast, a very basic understanding of Greek
dietetics, humors and most importantly the theory of digestion is necessary. Additionally, a glossary of terms used in
France and England will be presented as a means of emulating the sequences that
were used in the structure of a feast.Lastly,
how to apply this theory to a modern “Medieval” menu will be offered, along
with suggestions for various dishes which would be appropriate to be served
throughout the various sequences.

Introduction

How were medieval banquets served?The modern diner has an idea on how food is
to be served, starting with an appetizer and ending in dessert. This idea dates
back to the Greeks and their idea of how to remain healthy through diet. Modern
diners are used to a logical sequence of dishes served in a style that became
popular in the mid-19th century known as service “a la Russe”.This style of dining is characterized by
carefully choreographed dishes, served in a sequential manner, to an individual
according to the relevance of the dish and its function within the meal set
(Flandrin, 2007).

Prior to the 19th century, the style of
service for a meal was known as “a la Francaise”. It was characterized by
serving a variety of dishes at the same time. Oftentimes, the guests would
arrive at the table to find that the food had already been placed upon it.The guests would pick and choose what they
would eat based upon what was within easy reach. Upon completion of a specific
course, the dishes were removed from the table, and the next course would be
brought to it. This style of service, with its formality in the presentation of
dishes focused on showing off the wealth and or power of the host. It became
predominant in the 17th century (1601-1700), but its roots, are firmly grounded
in the dining styles of the previous centuries (Flandrin, 2007) .

Prior to the 17th century, the service (or
courses) would have been referred to as a messe (Middle English for meal ~
1300), mets (Old French for a course or portion of food ~1300), or assiettes
(French for Platter ~ 13th Century).In
medieval menus courses could be identified by number (first, second, third, or
premier, seconde, tiers), or they could be identified by name (potage, rost,
desserte). The terms service, course, dishes (mets), platters/trays (assiettes)
are interchangeable, or at the very least equivalent to each other when
referring to the different segments of a medieval meal.

Formal meals consisted of several courses
each containing multiple dishes which would be served at the same time.
However, the number of courses presented varied upon culture and if a meal was
served for supper or lunch (dinner). French menus consisted of two, three or
four courses; English two or three and Italians could have as few as two or
three and as many as twelve courses.This variance makes it difficult to see or understand a basic meal
structure.

To understand the structure of a meal
prepared in the 14th or 15th century, an understanding of Greek dietetics,
humors and most importantly the theory of digestion which was a prevalent part
of medieval society is necessary. The cook was as much physician as cook, who
understood that part of his responsibilities was the health and wellness of the
household in which he served and to structure his meal accordingly.

Greek Dietetics

Early Greek philosophers intent on
answering questions on the origin of all things, including man,came to the conclusion (between the sixth and
fourth centuries BC) that all things which exist contain within them varying
degrees of the elements fire, water, air, and earth.They also concluded that these four elements
had specific qualities associated with them; hot, cold, dry and wet. Further it
was agreed that things could not be both hot and cold, or wet and dry, but
varying degrees of these qualities. Each quality had attributes associated with
them; hot, cold, wet or dry.

Hippocrates writes in his Regimen 1.4-5
“Each of these elements has the following attributes.Fire is hot and dry, water cold and wet.By mutual exchange fire has moisture from
water. (For in fire there is moisture.) Water has dryness from fire. (for there
is dryness in water.) This being the case, there separate off from one another
many forms of every kind, both of seeds and of living creatures, which are not
all like one another either in appearance or power (Longrigg, 1998).”

Each of the four compound qualities (cold and dry, hot and moist, hot
and dry, and cold and moist) was associated with a specific bodily humor in Man.
Hippocrates wrote “The Human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black
bile. These are the things that make up its constitution and cause its pains
and health. Health is primarily that state in which these constituent
substances are in the correct proportion to each other, both in strength and
quantity, and are well mixed. Pain occurs when one of the substances presents
either a deficiency or an excess, or is separated in the body and not mixed
with others (Jones, 1931).”

Claudius
Galen (129-199) believed each of the humors not only contained specific
qualities, but were also associated with specific temperaments, also known as
personalities; sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. The Sanguine
temperament was associated with blood, which was both hot and moist and related
to the element of air. Galen’s phlegmatic temperament was associated with water
and was both cold and wet. Yellow bile was associated with the choleric
temperament and the element of fire.It
was hot and dry. Lastly, black bile was associated with the qualities of being
both cold and dry.The temperament of
black bile was melancholic and was associated with the element of earth.

Theory of Digestion

Each of the humors present in the
bloodstream was considered byproducts of the act of digestion. The theory of
digestion according to Hippocratic medicine was a process that likened the
stomach to an oven. Air combined with food and created the fuel necessary for
the “innate heat” of the stomach.Galen
postulated that digestion occurred in the stomach by heating up food that had
been ingested and transforming it into something that the body could properly
assimilate.However, there was a right
and wrong way that food could be eaten. Eating the wrong food was just as
unhealthy as eating too much food or eating food out of order. This theory
strongly influenced the way people ate in the late 14th early 15th
centuries (Ogle, 1882).

The Greeks believed that digestion was
composed of four separate processes.In
the first process, food was passed from the mouth to the stomach where it began
its transformation.Food was then
passed to the liver where the second process of digestion occurs and the humors
were created. Blood was the first humor to appear, and was created from the
most nutrient dense materials. It was during the third process of digestion
that the remaining humors were created.Phlegm was the second humor to appear and would be stored in the lungs as
mucus.Any remaining nutrients were then
converted to yellow bile which was not as plentiful as either blood or phlegm
and would be stored in the gallbladder to be used as needed. Lastly, black bile
would be created from the least nutritious and coarsest materials and stored in
the spleen. The ingested food was then passed into the veins for the fourth
digestion.

According to Hippocrates “Either because
of the quantity of things taken, or through their diversity, or because the
things taken happen to be strong and difficult of digestion, residues are
thereby produced, and when the things that have been taken are too many, the
heat that produces digestion is overpowered by the multitude of foods and does
not affect digestion.And because
digestion is hindered, residues are formed…...When however, they are coarse and
hard to digest, there occurs hindrance of digestion because they are hard to
assimilate, and so change to residues takes place.From the residues rise gases, which having
arisen bring on disease (Temkin, (2002).”

An individual's health was the direct
result of the interactions of the humors in the body.If the humors were imbalanced then a person
became ill.The stomach played a central
role in the health of the individual.If
the digestive “fire” of the stomachs were not hot enough, or if the stomach was
unable to properly digest food, illness would occur. If a person ate too much
food the heat of the stomach would be unable to properly digest it. Or, if a
person ate a food that was considered difficult to digest, “out of turn”, the
remaining food residue would ferment and rot, leading to the creation of ill
humors.Therefore, a person needed to be
careful about not only the quantity of what was eaten, but in what order.

The act of digestion started with the cook
who would apply his knowledge of the nature and temperament of food to create
dishes that were nourishing, sustaining and balanced the humors.It was his responsibility to determine the
structure of the meal, not through random actions or without thought but with
the understanding of the dire consequence of ill health and disease that would come
as a result of improper cooking and eating.

Feeding the Humors or the Role of the Cook and Health

By the late 14th early 15th
centuries, the dietetics of the Greeks and the health benefits of food had
become integrated in the household. Books such as the Tacuinum Sanitatis (The Handbook of Health) and the Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum contained
detailed descriptions of how to remain healthy through diet and daily habits.
Physicians would use these books and work tirelessly to create diets appropriate
to maintain the health of an individual or to help that individual overcome a
disease.The medieval cook’s goal then
was to produce a meal, based on the physicians’ recommendations, whose overall net balance was equal to an average adult’s
balanced humoral nature-- moderately moist and warm.

Not all foods have the quality of being
moist and warm.Among the many
responsibilities the medieval cook had, was to be aware of the nature of
everything that entered his kitchen, from wet and cold water to the excessive
heat and dryness of garlic. He also had to know how to cook food to make it
safe for eating. Different cooking methods had a direct effect on the
temperament of food.Roasting not only
heated food, it dried it.Boiling also
heated food, but it added moisture as well. Baking was a method of both heating
and drying food, but the nature of the pie shell protected the existing
moisture of its contents.If the
contents needed to have more moisture, fat such as marrow was added to it. As
the cook applied various methods of cooking; boiling, roasting, grilling,
baking, the qualities of the food would change.

Introduction to Structuring the Feast

A cook was under great pressure to ensure
that not only was the correct kinds of foods were eaten, but also responsible
for ensuring food would be eaten in the correct order. Based on the theory of
digestion, in order to achieve proper digestion, and to prevent illness from
food rotting or fermenting in the stomach the diner had to eat food in the
correct order.The logical progression
of the meal moved from those items closest to our temperament and easiest to
digest to those items that would progressively become more difficult to digest.

In 1475 Platina advises “At the first
table (the opening of the meal) are served all things laxative, light,
appetizing, and not very filling (Flandrin, 2007).” Following the opening of
the meal came pottages and broths (being both warm and moist) and oftentimes
composed of foods that thought to be easiest to digest.Platina then writes “Roasts are more nourishing
and more difficult to cook (digest) than boiled meats….roasted and fried flesh
is much more filling and harder to digest for being too dry and without humors;
but if boiled it is moist and digestible, provided it is not fat, in which
case, as we said, better roasted than boiled.”At the suggestions of Platina, the proper sequence would be liquid
before solid, boiled before sauced, sauced before roasted or cooked on a spit,
and cooked on a spit before grilled.

Roasting and grilling both heated and
dried food. These methods of cooking were appropriate for foods that were cold
and moist in nature.However, to bring
the food back into balance, the cook might need to “temper” it, with a sauce.
Woe to the hapless cook who deliberately spit roasted a joint of beef (dry and
hot) without serving it with an appropriate sauce to bring it back into
balance! Frying was another method of cooking that was both heating and
moisturizing.It was an appropriate
method of cooking for foods that were already of proper temperament, like
chicken.

At the conclusion of the meal, the diner
then had to close the stomach, to ensure that the digestive fires remained hot
enough to properly digest the food which had been consumed.It is in this sequence that you would find not
only foods appropriate to “open the stomach” but foods that were appropriate to
close it; spices and sugar (Flandrin, 2007).

Defining the Sequence

There was a
very logical sequence to the progression of a banquet in the 14th and 15th
century. The meal centered on a roast and could be preceded by two or more
courses, and finished by as many as three courses after the roast. Each of the
main cultures; English, Italian and French had their own way of referring to
this sequence.

Courses might be referred to as dishes
(mets), platters (assiettes), service, table, orservings.The Online Etymological Dictionary (N.D.) states that the word “course”
in the 13th century referred to a forward or onward movement; however, by the
14th century it had become associated with meals.In medieval menus courses can be identified
by number (first, second, third, or premier, seconde, tiers), or they could be
identified by name (potage, rost, desserte).Modernly a course refers to specific set dishes that are served together
during a meal.

Serving is derived from the Latin servire,
to be in service or to be a servant and references the actual act of getting
food from the kitchen to the diner.Modernly, serving refers to the amount of food that is given to an
individual at a meal, as well as the act of portioning and distributing food.
The terms course, dishes (mets), platters (assiettes), service, table or serving
are interchangeable, or at the very least equivalent.Even the much lamented “remove”, from relevé,
meaning a course which relieved or followed the entrée (derived from the old
French relever meaning to remove) could be used. However the first recorded
usage of the word “relever” is dated to approximately 1825 (Online Etymological
Dictionary, n.d.).

Each course in a formal meal contained
multiple dishes all of which would be served at the same time. The number of
dishes varied between lunch and supper and also varied depending on the
culture. For example, several of the suggested menus presented in Le Menagier
consist of three courses with approximately six to eight dishes per course. The
Harleian Manuscripts contain menus usually featuring three courses with upwards
to a dozen -or more- dishes per course.

To define the forward progression of a
meal it is important to understand the terminology that would have been used at
the time and its modern day equivalent. Once an understanding of the
progression of dishes throughout a feast sequence can be understood, putting
together a menu that can emulate this progression becomes an easy task. Jean
Louis Flandrin provides a workable progression in his book “Arranging the Feast”.

Entrée de table, entrance, or entrée, appetizer, aperitif

The modern diner might equate the Entrée
de table (entrance) or entréein the sequence of dishes to an aperitif, appetizers, or hors
d’oeuvres. The term entrée appears around 1536 (Hyman, 1992) and is used to
describe the first stage of a meal.It
is the name for dishes that were set on the table before diners entered the
room.It consists of wine and small
bites of food meant to awaken the appetite.

Aperitif comes from the Medieval Latin
word aperitivus, meaning “to open”.Appetizer, the word most modern diners are familiar with was first used
in the 1820’s and means “to whet the appetite”.In French, “Hors D'oeuvres” means “outside
the main” and does not come into common usage until the mid 17th century.

Pottages

Following the entrance are pottages and
broths. The first usage of the word “pottage” can be traced back to 1200 and is
derived from the old French potage, meaning something that could be put into a
pot..

Entremet

Many
menus of the 14th and 15th century describe beautifully elaborate dishes that
were for show.The French referred to
these dishes as entremet while the English would refer to them subtlety,
sotelty or soteltie.In the 12th
century, entremets referred specifically to entertainments, or an elaborate
dish or course featuring a spectacle dish or dishes which were served between
courses. However, by the 17th century, an entremet had come to mean a dish that
was served between a roast and the dessert.

Roast

The
roast consists of foods that have been exposed to dry heat, baked, roasted or
grilled. It is derived from late 13th century word rostir meaning “to cook or
burn”. At the suggestions of
Platina, the medieval cook would serve a meat boiled in a sauce, or a meat
which had been roasted to be served with a sauce.Additional cooking methods that might have
been used include meat that had been cooked on a spit or a grill, frying or an
item that had been baked.

Dessert

The term “dessert” comes from the French
desservir meaning to clear the table, indicating to the diner that they had
come to the end of their meal. The first recorded usage of the term desservir
was in 1539.At the conclusion of the
meal, there would be served a series of dishes that could be either savory or
sweet.The modern diner expects a
completely sweet course, and it is in this progression of the dishes a
resurgence of dry and warm spices and hot and moist sugar is prevalent.

Issue de Table

After diners had finished desert they would be
invited to withdraw from the table and enter into another room, where they
received the Issue de Table, an offering that could be as narrow as wafers and
hypocras or as broad as a selection of light pastries, wafers, juice, or
wine.

Boute Hor’s (Send-off, bow out)

The
last part of a meal in the 14th and 15th century, was the boute hor’s, or send
off.Diners received wine and épices de
chambre (chamber spices), fruit candied in sugar or honey, candied nuts and
fruit pastes. Not only did these items have the benefit of serving to further
close the stomach, they also freshened the breath.

Putting it all Together –or- Creating the Modern “Medieval” Menu

Fortunately recreating the general feel of
these elaborate feasts is much easier for the SCA cook. Our modern diners are
used to meals that consist of three to four courses of three to four dishes
each. This is not to say that the modern medieval cook cannot follow the
general outline for the sequence of the meal and serve five courses, starting
with appetizers sitting on table and ending with small gifts of chamber spices
and candied fruit for the guests to take home.But as a general rule of thumb, a modern day SCA-feast usually consists
of something on the table, a first course, second course and a dessert course.

The modern medieval diner expects to find
something on the table when they are preparing to eat. The modern medieval cook
can easily fulfill this expectation by placing upon the table dishes appropriate
for the Entrée de table (entrance), or entrée (appetizer, aperitif). To borrow
a page from Le Menagier, there could be a first platter (items upon the table
at the beginning of the feast) consisting of veal or fish pies, sausages and
toast rounds with a sweet wine (or grape juice).Or, capons (chicken) served with a cumin
sauce, cress and sorrel with vinegar, olives and tarts of veal. John Russels “Boke of Nurture” suggests as a first course brawn with mustard,
pottages of herbs and wine, and leche lombard.

Some additional suggestions for foods that
would be appropriately fitting to serve as appetizers include sweet wines,
confections made with spices such as ginger, caraway, anise, fennel or cumin,
peaches, melons, cherries, strawberries, grapes, lettuce with oil and vinegar
dressings, cabbages, boiled eggs, or honeyed dishes.

A modest first course could be brought to
the table featuring two potages, one of meat and one of vegetables, perhaps
served over sippets of toasted bread or with a loaf of bread brought to the
table. Le Menagier suggests as a second service; a stew of meat, almond broth,
blaunche porree, a thickened dish of leeks cooked in almond milk served with
thin slices of chicken, and peas. Maistre Chiquart suggests a bruet of almayn and
a bruet of Savoy, lamprey sauce with numbles of beef, platters of salted meats
in seasons, green porray and any other sauce but mustard.

For the more elaborate second course
highlighting the “main” dish (and the highlight of the meal), Le Menagier suggestsroast, the best you can get with appropriate
sauces, rich pastries, lombardy tarts, sweet chestnuts and thin pancakes or
cream fritters.This is the course
where it is the most appropriate to serve heavier meats which have been
roasted, baked or in a pastry shell, served cold (froide sauge), jellied (jelly
of meat or fish) or sliced. Maistre
Chiquart suggests “large roasts put themselves” including a whole piglet or
kid, and after the roasts trays of fowl including goose, pheasant and
partridge, and reminds the cook to pay attention to the sauces used
recommending simple salt, sauce piquant, jance or cameline.

The modern cook is not limited in the
items that can be served.Other items
that could be included in this course are nuts (especially with fish), aged
cheeses (especially with meat), vegetables that have been roasted, baked or
fried, pears, apples, quince, medlars or chestnuts. It is not uncommon to find
pancakes or other fried dishes such as fritters in this course.

Lastly an elaborate third course composed
of all manner of sweet or savory dishes to signal the ending of the meal.A modern medieval cook may choose to end
their meal with a variety of dishes such as a custard tart, stewed fruits,
wafers with snow, fruit pastes, manus christi and spices in comfit.Other items for consideration include sweet
dishes made with honey and sugar, glazed dishes, crepes, fruit rissoles,
puddings, custards, and light cakes.

At many modern feasts, the Issue de Table
is not observed, but suggestions to invoke the spirit of the Issue include the
addition of candied fruits, spices and nuts, along with candied ginger, fruit
pastes and other sweetmeats served with spiced fruit juice or wine.

Conclusion

To answer the question, “How were medieval
banquets served?”They were served in
accordance to the cook’s general knowledge of health, carefully cooked
according to the nature of the item being served. An individual's health was
the direct result of the interactions of the humors created through the process
of digestion in the body.If the humors
were unbalanced then a person became ill.

The act of digestion started with the cook
who would apply his knowledge of the nature and temperament of food to not only
create the meal but to determine the structure of it. At the suggestions of
Platina, the medieval cook would serve dishes that were light, appetizing and
easily digested. Each successive course would then become increasingly more
difficult to digest until the meal concluded.

The modern cook can easily simulate the
feel of a medieval feast by following the structure that our medieval
predecessors used; appetizers, pottages, stewed or braised foods, sauced,
roasted, fried, grilled or baked dishes, and lastly desert.A cook wishing to extend the feel of the
feast should look at the details, nuts served after fish, hard cheese after
meat, wine or fruit juices at the beginning and the end of the meal, and lastly,
a selection of comfits, candies and sweetmeats to send their guests home.

Hippocrates,
The Writings of Hippocrates and Galen. Epitomised from the Original Latin
translations, by John Redman Coxe (Philadelphia:
Lindsay and Blakiston, 1846). 12/14/2017.
http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1988

Mac Con Iomaire, M.
(2009). The emergence, development and
influence of French haute cuisine on public dining in Dublin restaurants
1900-2000:an oral history. Doctoral thesis. Dublin Institute of Technology.

Meat or vegetables cooked in a pot with
broth or almond milk such as sops, bruets, porree, cive, stews, graves, or
porrays

Roast-foods that have been exposed to
dry heat, baked, roasted, or grilled

Second

Roasted meat dishes, meat dishes served
with sauce, baked in a pastry shell, fattier meat, grain based dishes such as
frumenty or eisings, jellied, and sliced dishes, vegetables that have been
roasted or baked, heavier fruits such as meddlars, apples, chestnuts, or
quince and fried dishes such as rissole, fritters, and pancakes.

Appendix C:Maistre Chiquart:
The Service of Dinner on the First Day

Du Fait
de Cuisine by Maistre Chiquart (~1420)

The first service

And let us take as
first service the large meats, that is beef and mutton; and those who cut up
the beef should cut fair and large royal pieces, and those who cut them for the
mutton should cut them the length of the sheep without leaving anything except
a little waste.

And to serve these
said pieces of beef and mutton let them be put on a large gold platter without
putting on anything else.

And another large
platter should be served beside with the salt meats according to the season
which it is, that is in winter chine of pork, andouille sausages, and salt pork
chops. And for the said first course green porray, and it is not necessary to
serve any other sauce except mustard.

And with this,
there should be served a white bruet over capons together with the meat which
one has therewith.

Again, a bruet of
Almayn,

...another potage,
that is a bruet of Savoy

A lamprey sauce for
numbles of beef

Afterward, also,
well-made pastry of fattened bee

Again, for an
entremet, heads of boars endored and armed and with banners and spitting fire

The second service

For the second
course, all manner of roasts to serve honorably to the royal table as for
kings, queens, dukes, duchesses, and such powerful, noble, and venerable lords
as was said before.

And to serve more
honorably there should be served large roasts put by themselves, that is: a
whole kid, a whole piglet, a large loin of veal, a large loin of pork, and
shoulders of mutton put on a great platter of gold.

And afterward,
poultry put on a great platter of gold, that is: fat goslings, best capons,
pheasants, partridges, conies, pigeons, and herons; and these are put one on
another in such great abundance that the platter is well filled and heaped
high. And one should pay attention to the sauce for the said roast: that is,
for the goslings and the capon, jance; for the pheasants, partridges, piglets,
and conies, cameline; and for the roast kid, green verjuice; for fat pork,
sauce piquant; and for pigeons, crystallized salt.

Also, frumenty,
venison, tarts, talmoses, cream flans, a cameline bruet, civet of hares, rosy bruet,
a blancmange divided into four colors put in one serving dish; and for an
entremet, a high castle wherein is in the middle the fountain of Love.

Third service. Frumenty with porpoise, browned apples and Spanish peas and young
lampreys, a roast of fish, jelly, lampreys, congers and turbot in green sauce,
bream in verjuice, fried bread slices, meat tarts and the side-dishes: then Dessert, the Final Service and the
Extras.